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Just then, however, a smartly-dressed young stranger,
emerged from their midst and seemed to assume the mantle
of leading the motley crew up and down the village once
more. This time round, however, the tunes were far more
uplifting and the beat of the drums was stirring the local's
blood.
The procession stopped at the head of the pier once more
and the young man in the top hat and swallow tails asked
the crowd for silence. At this point, he was joined by the
'old man' who some of the locals recgnised as being, in
fact, one of the sailors from the MacGonagle. The
young man went on to explain just what exactly they were
doing.
The reason for the procession, he told them, was that
in their home village of Lichylachylomond, this custom
was carried out without fail to celebrate the coming of
the new year. Given the vagaries of the sailor's itinerary,
his captain, Alaister McHarg, wished that the should continue
to enact the custom, wherever they might be each New
Year's Eve.
And so it was that the custom of the 'Old Year' began
in Portmagee. Starting the very next year, which co-incidentally
was one of the hungriest the village had ever seen, the
locals re-enacted the custom in honour of the strange
Scottish men who had so entertained them the previous year.
And the custom has been repeated every year to this day.
John Devane, who played the Old Year for the last 20 years,
on and off, sadly passed away this year and will be very
much missed. For most of us, he was the Old Year
and will remain forever fondly etched in our memories as
he emerged from our pub and lead musicians and torch-bearers
and all of the local children up and down the village before
expiring theatrically at 12:00. Ní fheicimíd a
leithéid arís.
The millennium year celebrations were especially
memorable. A beautiful clear sky, the streets packed with
people from near and far, smiling and laughing - a truly
magical night. There are videos of the event available so
contact Gerard if
you're interested.
If you're from Kerry or are anywhere near the area on New
Year's Eve, this is the place to be. But if you're
looking for a place to stay, you have to be quick, because
most accommodation for New Year's is gone by the end of
September.
A special word of thanks to Michael Hermann for providing
us with these great photos.
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